The Richmond County Tea Party Patriots were initially denied the permit to hold the rally, but it was ultimately granted. The denial may or may not be part of a pattern of harassment and intimidation of Tea Party and conservative groups that has been ongoing with the IRS under the Obama administration and reflecting at the local level.

Photo by Virginia Ross. Ron Devito, Member, Richmond County Tea Party Patriots, NY State Coordinator, AGU/O4P speaks about actions the grassroots can take to defeat the NYSAFE Act.

Transcript of "Molon Labe by Legal, Political Processes"

Fellow citizens and patriots: I would like to begin by asking those of you who served to please raise your hand. We salute you, we honor you, we thank you  without your sacrifice we would not be standing here today.

When we last gathered three months ago on a cold, rainy Saturday, I ended my speech with two Greek words: Molon Labe  Come and Take it. Those words conjure up images of jack-booted thugs kicking down doors to take our guns as we fight in a last stand for freedom.

Back then I discussed some proposed legislation that envisioned confiscation including language in an earlier version of the NYSAFE Act. None of us here ever want to see that day come, so I am here to talk about how we put Molon Labe into action via the legal and political process....

Weve already taken one of the first steps and thats by being here today and making our voices heard. Whether we attend rallies and protests; write letters to our elected representatives and newspapers; make phone calls or share calls to action on social media, we must make our voices heard in the ways that work best for each of us. Our representatives need to know: this issue is absolutely not negotiable and if they vote against the Constitution, theyre voting a pink slip for themselves. Period.

When the NRA-ILA seeks funds to help in a lawsuit against NYSAFE, donate. Be sure you join the NRA or if you prefer a smaller group such as Gun Rights Across America, Gun Owners of America, National Association for Gun Owners Rights or the Second Amendment Foundation. All these organizations offer easy ways to send letters and make calls to your representatives at the federal and state levels, and you can use these tools for New York State representatives when it comes to NYSAFE.

If someone is charged under the NYSAFE Act, advocate and help his or her legal defense. Those of you who are lawyers can do pro-bono work in this area.

We need to push our representatives for a full repeal of NYSAFE, and keep the pressure up. We need to rally the good politicians by our side and support candidates who will not compromise on this issue.

The left is winning the social media war, and Im sorry to say its because the left is doing social media right. If youre on Facebook and you see a call to action, a rally notice, or a constructive YouTube, like and share it. Even some of those silly Condescending Wonka posts are worth sharing.

You dont need to ask for permission and we need to get out of this mentality of asking permission to share. The whole point of Facebook is to share! We dont post things there for our health or because we like looking at our own stuff. Share, share, and share. Dont ask. Just do it and get your friends to do the same. On Twitter, if you see an important Tweet, Re-Tweet it. You dont need to ask to Re-Tweet. Just Do It! The left is doing it right on social media, because they share and they have mastered grassroots organizing.

I also like the Americans for Prosperity model: send an action alert to five people  ask them to execute it and report back to you. You further ask these five people to repeat the process with five of their friends. This mirrors Multi-Level Marketing schemes and it works very well for grassroots political action.

For those of us who do own guns, it is incumbent on us to never become THAT person who is the reason why someone wants to infringe upon or eliminate our rights. Our Second Amendment rights come with grave responsibilities involving life and death.

Some common-sense reminders: if youre not fit to drive or operate machinery, while youre in that state youre not fit to handle guns either. Guns, alcohol, and many medications dont mix. Raging anger and lingering depression are not a good combination with guns either. We must always adhere to the four cardinal rules of gun safety: a gun is always considered loaded; you never point a gun at anything youre not willing to shoot; you never put your finger on the trigger until youre ready to shoot and never shoot unless you are sure of your target and whats behind it.

While we may disagree with various gun laws, you dont want to be THAT person who is arrested and made an example of. You are subject to the laws of the jurisdiction youre in. You dont want to be THAT person who does something stupid with a gun and you dont want to ruin your life with a felony charge. You dont want to be THAT person who gives some politician an excuse to further restrict our freedoms. Being safe, responsible and law abiding with our firearms is not optional  its on obligation that comes along with our Second Amendment.

Yes, you do Molon Labe by being safe, responsible and following the law  and working via the legal and political process to repeal bad laws  such as NYSAFE.

Yes, NYSAFE can be consigned to the scrap heap of history, but we must make our voices heard and we must work to make it happen. We cannot wish it away. If we dont make our voices heard, one day we will see those jack-booted thugs at our doors, and then it will be too late.

Anti-gun extremist State Senator Dan Kotowski has introduced a ban on all magazines having a capacity exceeding 10 rounds. The bill (SB1002) banning magazines also requires large fines and prison sentences if you are caught with magazines for AR-15 and other modern sporting rifles.

SB1002 IS A BOLD AND BRAZEN ATTACK ON THE 2ND AMENDMENT:

1. SB1002 will have no effect on the criminal use of firearms yet will infringe on the right of law-abiding citizens constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

2. SB1002 is a backdoor way to limit your ability to defend yourself and family under the upcoming Illinois concealed carry law.

3. SB1002 is the first step towards the banning of semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns.

BLOOMBERG AND THE GUN GRABBERS WILL PUSH HARD TO GET SB1002 PASSED

Magazine bans are on the top of gun controllers wish list this year. They want to see Illinois join with the likes of New York, Maryland, California, and now Colorado in the destruction of the 2nd Amendment.

ONLY YOU HAVE THE POWER TO STOP SB1002. ACT NOW OR LOSE ANOTHER CHUNK OF YOUR GUN RIGHTS!

Here is what you need to do to stop SB1002:

1. Call your State Senator and politely tell the person who answers the phone that you are a law-abiding Illinois firearm owner and that you oppose SB1002 and you expect the Senator to vote against the bill when it comes to the floor. If you do not know who your State Senator is, the Illinois State Board of Elections has an interactive search page here:
www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx

If you already know who your State Senator is and just need the contact info, you can find that here: www.ilga.gov/senate/.

2. When you call your Senators office, you may hear all kinds of nonsense about how SB1002 will not affect law-abiding gun owners. Politely tell the person that you are not interested in hearing that, you are only interested in seeing SB1002 defeated.

3. Pass this alert on to your friends and family and tell them to make calls as well.

4. Post this alert to any and all Internet blogs or bulletin boards to which you may belong.

5. Help keep ISRA on the frontlines of this fight for your rights, go the extra mile and recruit a new ISRA member. Sign them up over the phone at 815-635-3198, or browse to isra.org/join .

SPECIAL NOTICE: DO NOT call Senator Kotowski unless he is your Senator, and even then be very careful. Kotowski has a track record of having the State Police investigate and harass people that disagree with him.

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